Genoa director Diego Lopez claims they expected refereeing controversy in their 2-0 defeat to Napoli. ‘All of Italy saw what happened today’ in the controversial Kevin De Bruyne goal.
The game was still 0-0 at Marassi when Johan Vasquez stood in front of De Bruyne to shield the loose ball, but the defender went down when nudged from behind, allowing the Belgian to fire in undisturbed from seven yards.
Referee Marco Di Bello had a good view of the incident, put the whistle to his lips, and then took it out again when he saw the move was leading to a goal.
It was evaluated by VAR, who decided not to recommend an On-Field Review, as it was not considered to be a clear and obvious error.
Soon after, De Bruyne set up Antonio Vergara to score the second goal, as Napoli ran out 2-0 winners over Genoa.
Genoa rage at referee Di Bello
“All of Italy saw what happened today,” Chief of Football Lopez told Sky Sport Italia and DAZN Italia.
“This referee was also in the VAR booth last season in the game against Napoli, so naturally when we heard he had been assigned to this match, we were worried.
“Last season it was 2-2 until the last minute and Napoli were awarded a penalty. He was also in Roma-Genoa, where our goalkeeper was hit in the face during a goal. Both times, the referees later acknowledged these were errors in Open VAR.”
Open VAR is the DAZN programme where the representatives of the referees’ association evaluate and explain the decisions made in the most recent Serie A matches, acknowledging when there were mistakes.
“Fortunately, there are cameras, so all of Italy saw that there was a clear push on Vasquez to create the opportunity for Napoli to score. The referee saw it and decided not to blow his whistle, then the referee decided not to view it again.
“We tried to calm the players, because they knew Genoa had already suffered two recognised errors at the hands of this referee. We know that officials are human and can make mistakes, but all of Italy saw what happened today.”
In the opening day of the Serie A season, there are already clashes over the refereeing, even though the officials had warned they wanted VAR to intervene only for clear and obvious errors.
The incident was hotly debated in the various television studios too, with some feeling De Bruyne had fouled Vasquez, others insisting the defender had tried to draw the contact and was not actively attempting to clear the ball.
It was ultimately evaluated on the field by the referee, and did not meet the criteria for clear and obvious error.
